AZSUGARBEAR said it a little more accurate than me. depending on volume you can save . Also, a big difference in the price of factory ammo and reloaded ammo shortens payback time. 45 long colt, 300 weatherby , 6.5-284 and others come to mind. My problem is using the 30-06 as an example- rather than getting a box of 168cbt and a can of H-4350 and some 210m and shooting everything with that . over time i end up getting a lot of different stuff , varget and I4064 , 167 scenars, 168 MK, `175 MK..... 167 hornady for targets . then i need to try 59 grains of H-4831 and 200 partitions for the bigger stuff . then i find out i can get 50 fps more with RE-22 . then they come out with RE-17 and ..................
factory ammo with high BC
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azsugarbear
Well-Known Member
Ah, yes. I kinda glossed over the 'addiction' part, didn't I?
westcliffe01
Well-Known Member
I don't get the comments regarding that reloading doesn't save money. Unless one just owns 1 rifle and 1 handgun and shoots just a box of ammo a year from each - reloading is going to save money. (I suppose there ARE people that fall into that category, but they are hardly likely to be members of a long range hunting forum...)
223: If one buys cheap brass ammo, one is looking at close to $0.50/round buying factory ammo. That same ammo provides brass for reloading "for free". Bulk 55gr bullets = 9.3c CCI 41 Primer = 3.8c 24gr of powder = 10.2c Total = 23.3c/round If you start with buying your own brass from scratch, figure on adding 5c/round to cover buying Lapua brass
308: Typical 147gr ammo is 70c/round. Again, you get brass "for free" You can go cheap with 20c bulk bullets or pay 28c for 175 SMK's. CCI 200 primer = 2.7c Powder = 20.1c Total = 42.8c if you go cheap or 50.8c if you build the equivalent to Federal 175 match ammo. Now that stuff routinely sells for $1.30/round or more. If you need to start from scratch with new brass, figure on adding 7.6c to cover the cost of new Lapua brass
In both cases I assume 10 reloadings, in practice you can go more, but you might start losing some of it in the field if it lasts for years...
Above are 2 of the most common loads and the easiest to find factory ammo for. But 6.5x284, 6.5x57 Lapua, 243 Ackley improved, any of the magnum cartridges I can go on and on, the cost differential goes WAY up.
Typically the only items needed for reloading that are tied to a specific cartridge are the dies and shell holder. Usually you can be equipped for about $120 for a set of dies. Yes, there is virtually no upper limit to how much you can spend, but what do you need ? Amortizing $120 does not require loading a lot of ammunition. In the case of the 223 example, that would be 450 rounds. For the 308, it would be 441 rounds for the cheap ammo or 152 rounds if building 175gr SMK equivalent ammo. Even slightly exotic ammo and the amortization period gets down to a few boxes. Lets not even talk about the accuracy differences when going "high end" with lapua brass and VLD bullets with tuned loads and seating distances. No factory ammo even comes close.
223: If one buys cheap brass ammo, one is looking at close to $0.50/round buying factory ammo. That same ammo provides brass for reloading "for free". Bulk 55gr bullets = 9.3c CCI 41 Primer = 3.8c 24gr of powder = 10.2c Total = 23.3c/round If you start with buying your own brass from scratch, figure on adding 5c/round to cover buying Lapua brass
308: Typical 147gr ammo is 70c/round. Again, you get brass "for free" You can go cheap with 20c bulk bullets or pay 28c for 175 SMK's. CCI 200 primer = 2.7c Powder = 20.1c Total = 42.8c if you go cheap or 50.8c if you build the equivalent to Federal 175 match ammo. Now that stuff routinely sells for $1.30/round or more. If you need to start from scratch with new brass, figure on adding 7.6c to cover the cost of new Lapua brass
In both cases I assume 10 reloadings, in practice you can go more, but you might start losing some of it in the field if it lasts for years...
Above are 2 of the most common loads and the easiest to find factory ammo for. But 6.5x284, 6.5x57 Lapua, 243 Ackley improved, any of the magnum cartridges I can go on and on, the cost differential goes WAY up.
Typically the only items needed for reloading that are tied to a specific cartridge are the dies and shell holder. Usually you can be equipped for about $120 for a set of dies. Yes, there is virtually no upper limit to how much you can spend, but what do you need ? Amortizing $120 does not require loading a lot of ammunition. In the case of the 223 example, that would be 450 rounds. For the 308, it would be 441 rounds for the cheap ammo or 152 rounds if building 175gr SMK equivalent ammo. Even slightly exotic ammo and the amortization period gets down to a few boxes. Lets not even talk about the accuracy differences when going "high end" with lapua brass and VLD bullets with tuned loads and seating distances. No factory ammo even comes close.
azsugarbear
Well-Known Member
It's not that you don't save money. It's just that we seem to spend the savings on more components. In the end, we don't save anything - but shoot twice as much as we otherwise would have. 
westcliffe01
Well-Known Member
People do strange things... How much does the drive to the range cost ? Do you make that drive just to shoot 1 5 round group ? I have seen people shooting slug guns, trying all sorts of ammo. The sabot type ammo for deer season is easily $3/shell and I have seen guys run through 50 rounds in 1 hour = $150 (not any closer to shooting a good group).
I practice primarily with my 223, but always with my own hand loads. The last time I ever bought any factory ammo for it, it was Hornady Superformance match 75gr HPBT ammo at nearly $20/box. I would not be doing a whole lot of practice at that price and I certainly wouldn't be letting friends teenagers shoot it at 320 yards at that price either... But at about 1/4 the price for reloaded ammo, I can be a bit more "generous".
I still think I am saving money. Last month I bought 1000 Berger 80gr .224 VLD's and it was the first 223 related ammo purchase in at least 18 months (other than primers last year, just based on seeing them for sale). I feel really sorry for anyone who was depending on factory ammo being available in the last 18 months...
I practice primarily with my 223, but always with my own hand loads. The last time I ever bought any factory ammo for it, it was Hornady Superformance match 75gr HPBT ammo at nearly $20/box. I would not be doing a whole lot of practice at that price and I certainly wouldn't be letting friends teenagers shoot it at 320 yards at that price either... But at about 1/4 the price for reloaded ammo, I can be a bit more "generous".
I still think I am saving money. Last month I bought 1000 Berger 80gr .224 VLD's and it was the first 223 related ammo purchase in at least 18 months (other than primers last year, just based on seeing them for sale). I feel really sorry for anyone who was depending on factory ammo being available in the last 18 months...
If you are looking for factory ammo with a higher BC then look at Doubletap.net. They have 30-06 loaded with 200 grain accubonds with a BC of .588. I have shot the double tap ammo in a couple of rifles and it is pretty consistent.
Sorry that is doubletapammo.net
7mmremingtonmagnum
Member
thank you much!!!!!!
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gun)gun)
I'm a Big Fan of Double Tap Ammo. Since I sold the family ranch and no longer have a place to test reloads as I load them, I gave away all of my loading equipment and tried several custom ammo manufacturers. I first discovered Double Tap while searching for pistol ammo......after finding extremely consistent readings over my chronograph along with great accuracy/velocity combo for several pistol calibers, I decided to try their rifle ammo. They achieve equal or higher velocities as I was getting reloading and still maintain Super Accuracy! I now use their loads for .45 acp, 9mm, 357 sig, 257 Roberts, 280 Remington, & 264 Win Mag. As soon as my current supply of 300 Wby and 25-06 run out, I'll be ordering those calibers, as well. Being an Outfitter in South Texas, the quality of my ammunition is Extremely Important to me! All my rifle loads use Barnes Triple Shock and LRX bullets......I won't use anything else and recommend them to all my clients. Ordering from Mike McNett and the guys at Double Tap is as good as loading them myself......they're that Good!
